Review: The Shootouts- 'Switchback'
The old saying goes, “Dance with the date that brung you.” The Shootouts don't subscribe to that saying. Throughout their three previous albums, the trio has shown their willingness to cast their net wide, pulling influences from country, blues, swing, and Americana. On their new album, Switchback, available now from Transoceanic Records, they go even further, adding a rock and roll guitar swagger to many of the album's songs.
After previously working with Chuck Mead and Ray Benson, this time around, the band turned to producer Dan Knobler (Allison Russell, Lake Street Dive) for a studio assist. The result is an album that toes the line between tight and loose enough to let the light in.
One of the highlights of Switchback is an unusual cover, “Only You”, originally performed by synthpop duo Yazoo. The band's bluegrass-tinged classic country ballad take on the song is refreshing. It also features a trio of guest musicians in harmonica player Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson), Americana troubadour Lindsay Lou, and the king of the mandolin himself, Sam Bush.
Bush also lends his golden fingers to the instrumental title track of the album. A rollicking bluegrass reel, it sees Bush trading licks with the band's lead guitarist Brian Poston, who also wrote the song. The interplay keeps the music lively.
Another highlight is another cover, this time Pure Prairie League's “I'll Be Damned.” Leaning heavily into Western swing, the song features a vocal assist from the song's writer, country legend Vince Gill. It's a song that changes up the vibe while honoring the original.
Lyrically, “Dancing With the Distance” is the star. Another harmonica-heavy song (once again courtesy of Raphael), it will be all too familiar to those with unrealized dreams. “There's a guitar in the corner / that I used to play / songs I used to sing when I had more to say,” vocalist Ryan Humbert croons. On the chorus, he drives the message home, “From where I am / to where I'd rather be / I'm dancing with the distance in between.”
Elsewhere on the album, the band leans into lyrically hooked classic country (“Only Good at Goodbye”, featuring Logan Ledger), strolling Americana (“Trampoline”, another collaboration with Lindsay Lou), and Tom Petty-style Southern rock (“The Other Side of My Life”).
If a band can be judged by the company they keep, The Shootouts are a band that can be judged highly. But even without the likes of Gill, Bush, Lou, and Raphael, Switchback would be an album worth listening to. It's nice to see a band willing to experiment, doubly so when they do so this successfully.